A Fantastic Farewell from Berlin

Our third day in Berlin was a completely free day! A group of us began our day by heading over to the Museum Island as we knew we wanted to go to at least one museum that day. After some splitting up a smaller group of us decided to head over to the museum inside the Holocaust memorial that was closed when we went the other day. Although we had been hearing quite a bit about WWII the past few weeks it seemed like we learned something new about it every day. One thing that stood out to me about this museum was that they had this one room that had the names of those killed in the Holocaust projected on the walls and had a recording going of a small bio of each person they projected. It made it all the more real to hear about the lives of each individual person that was recorded and it takes about 8 years to go through all of them. 

German Spy Museum

The next stop was the German Spy Museum. I got to see a lot of different items that have been used to spy on people in the past like a camera lipstick or a camera cigarette carton. I also enjoyed how interactive this museum was. I got to learn how to sweep for bugs, use a decoder, as well as try my hand at a laser maze! Although it was super interesting to see how people were spied on in the past it was slightly worrying to me that if the tools were quite sophisticated in the past, then what is being used to spy on people now! 

After this we spent the rest of the day exploring around Berlin. We would hop on the transit system and then get off where we felt like and explore a new part of the city we’d never been to before. We came across a very cool looking church, a couple malls, and got some incredible food!

On our last full day in the city we got to go to see the Berlin Philharmonic. Our seats were quite interesting, as they were directly behind the performers. We were practically on the stage with them, we were so close I could read along on the musicians music! This also meant I had a perfect view of the conductor (well if I craned my neck around the gong in front of me that is). Being that I plan to conduct groups of my own, I always enjoy watching professional and experienced conductors. This conductor was so much fun to watch! He was so engaging and I could truly see him expressing the music throughout his entire body. The musicians also seemed so tuned into him and I could tell just by how they interacted how much respect they had for him. 

The music performed by the Berlin Philharmonic was Mahler’s Sixth Symphony, and it was absolutely incredible. It was like no orchestra I had ever seen before. They were all in sync with each other, and every note was accurate and together. Often times, being a vocalist, I find that I can get bored more easily when watching orchestras, but I was on the edge of my seat for the entire performance. The composition itself is something to be regarded, but their performance of it had me entranced and awestruck. I have to say that although I was sad to leave Berlin, this was a fantastic farewell!